Law enforcement officials identified the top 10 criminal offenders in Leon County in an effort to target the people they say contribute the most to local crime. Two of them are in custody.

Cedric Davis and Shawn Barr were arrested last month. Those arrests are indicative of some of the early gains made over the past few months in the fight against crime detailed during a two-hour meeting with city officials and the Public Safety Collective.

The group, which also includes university and college police chiefs and community people, was established in June to address a collaborative approach to crime among the county’s law enforcement groups.

This year, there have been 21 homicides, the most tallied in a single year. Two of those – shootings in April and October – were justifiable homicides and one was a felony murder stemming from a shooting in June connected to a drug deal.

For the past three years, self-reported data submitted to the state showed Leon County had the highest crime rate in Florida.

City and county officials say uniform crime statistics submitted to the state every year are not an accurate indicator of crime trends.

However, during the workshop, they touted recent statistics using the same methodology, which showed overall crime down by 14 percent across the county. Property crime, a driving force behind last year’s numbers, has dropped more than 16 percent.

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The Public Safety Collective, a group of community leaders and Leon County law enforcement officials, gave an update on crime fighting efforts Wednesday.(Photo: Hali Tauxe/Democrat)

Shortly after the meeting concluded, the city sent out a press release touting the reduced crime statistics tallied through September.

The FBI, which compiles the data annually, and other groups warn against using crime data to make comparisons because specific conditions and community factors vary.

The numbers don’t tell the entire story, said City Commissioner Curtis Richardson.

“We are not the Wild West despite what is being portrayed in the media. We are not. We are a safe community,” Richardson said. “You don’t have to walk around the city of Tallahassee fearing for your life.”

Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo, who has been picked to head the collective, agreed with Richardson but said there are still challenges.

“Some of the pictures that can be painted about crime being out of control in our community are not accurate,” DeLeo said. “People need to be aware where we truly are right now… We have some challenges, but we work together to meet those challenges and improve.”

Data has pointed to a handful of hotspots that over the years have driven the crime rate. Statistics show 83 percent of incidents happen within the city limits.

In an effort to address that and a growing problem of getting witnesses to come forward with information about a crime, TPD is placing six surveillance cameras in the Bond community.

The cameras, which will be placed on utility poles, came out of citizen complaints of high crime areas. They will be recording but will not be actively monitored, DeLeo said.

The cameras will be placed at the intersections of Floral and Saxon streets, Floral and Russell streets, Osceola and Holton streets, Osceola and Poppy streets, Saxon and Nassau streets and Gamble and Perry streets.

Leon County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Investigations Jeff Beasley said a specialized Florida Highway Patrol unit brought in to provide law enforcement support across several counties had success on Tuesday, its first night.

A suspect who fled into Wakulla County was arrested on drug charges. Several suspects were arrested in a vehicle containing five pounds of marijuana and multiple fake credit cards; another person wanted on drug charges was arrested and a suspect with active warrants was arrested on charges of possession of an illegal firearm, Beasley said.

“These are the kind of individuals we want to focus our efforts on as we use these enhanced resources,” he said.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.